[ In progress ] April-May 2015: Review/compare navigation programs Osmand/Oruxmaps/Locus. Finally the past few years waterproof mobile phones appeared (such as Defy, S5 & S5 mini, Xperia Z, Z2, Z3) and my opinion hasn't changed, that that any bike specific navigation devices have no future. Just use a mobile phone and a simple bike computer.

Perhaps I will do a test in 2015 of these: Cateye has introduced various bike computers with bluetooth functionality: Padrone smart, Strada smart. Are these of interest? Perhaps for the click button (which I mentioned in 2012 as what I thought would be a good way to operate a smartphone on a bike). Perhaps also for keeping the screen on the smartphone off (the biggest power draw is the screen).

Updates:

2015-7-9: Added some more considerations about smartphones vs. dedicated navigation systems, and started a comparison of Osmand, Oruxmaps, Locus, with some notes on using offline vector maps with Oruxmaps and Locus.

2013-10-19: Added some more information and pictures I made long ago of the IKU cyclotronic bicycle computer, I think the first Dutch bicycle computer and it never needs a new battery.

Introduction

Issues of interest in bicycle computers:

How easily can it be reset?

If it is wireless, does it work when using a (3W or more) LED lamp? LED lamps have high frequency control/power circuitry that interferes with the function of most wireless bicycle computers. What helps against this is a nearly completely metal housing of the LED lamp, or the LED should be positioned away from the bicycle computer; How far away depends on the lamp and the bicycle computer, it can be from 5 to 20 cm.

If it is wireless, is there an option to use the bicycle computer with a wired connection? I don't know any bicycle computer that has this possibility when I first made this page (december 2008), but there are more people who have suggested this as I have (btw, in December 2008 I sent a message to Cateye about this and other issues with suggestions to improve their bicycle computers, perhaps I should send it to others such as VDO, Sigma; Addition for February 2010: Sigma now has the option of a wire for at least one of its wireless computers...).

How well can the screen be read? In both standard situations of say a somewhat cloudy day, and in full sunlight.

Is the screen such that text/numbers near the edge don't 'disappear' in the shadow when he sun shines? This can happen if the actual LCD display is a lot deeper than the transparant part of the housing above it, and when that transparent part does not extend much beyond the LCD display size. The result can be a shadow from the non-translucent part of the housing, onto the LCD screen.

Does the (LCD) screen have background lichting?

Do the measurements get updated quickly on screen, or can there be a long time between updates?

How accurate are the measurements? For example, how long does it take before the computer stops when you stopped cycling, and do impossible peak speed values occur?

How accurate are the calculations using measurements? E.g. the average speed calculation, is that done accurately or not?

Which type of batteries are used? The use of CR-2032s is quite handy, as this sort of battery gets used a lot in various equipment, it means just having to have 1 type of battery as spares and you don't need to watch out that you get the right type when you don't have any left (you can also, in case you don't have any to spare, temporarily cannibalize one from another piece of equipment that you don't use at the moment...). Less common formats such as CR-1620 (used in the Cateye Strada for example) are therefore not handy.

Some wireless bike computers use an annoyingly hard to find and expensive 12V battery (CR123A), so beware...

What I'd like to see in bicycle computers:

No archaic measurement units, so no miles, only a 24 hour clock and no 12 hour clock with AM/PM, no weird american date order (month/day/year) and no temperature in Fahrenheit. No useless information such as estimated energy expenditure (often even in the archaic unit of Calorie instead of Joule!) and no useless 'fat burnt' information.

It would be interesting to have an option to show the speed and average speed in m/s.

Wireless bicycle computers should come with a mount + sensors with a wire, so that those who prefer reliability install the wire, those who don't want wires use the wireless option. May be a little more expensive to make, but will remove a lot of frustration for those who want reliability first and foremost.

What would be nice: Background lighting of the screen, powered by the hub dynamo (e.g. via de headlamp's output for the rear lamp). A problem with this is the high voltages generated by hub dynamos if the headlamp fails, which could fry the computer's internals, so in that respect a separate lamp mounted on the bicycle computer, with voltage protection circuitry, might be better. Or use the power output from the headlamp for the rear lamp (regulated to 6 V by the headlamp in modern LED lamps).

A different automatic start/stop function: This entails having to press a start/stop button to start/stop measuring, but in the measuring, a regular automatic start/stop is working. The advantage of this is that you have a regular automatic start/stop, but you can switch off the computer (well, at least the measuring) if you don't want a particular section to be measured. For example, before/after a ride, I have a narrow path to ride to my house. I ride slowly there, and the data from that section are of no interest for the average. So I want to be able to switch of measuring by pressing the start/stop button, when I get to that path. 2. The reverse, leaving the path, then starting the ride. 3. During a ride you take a break, and take your bike along a little while walking. The data of that are of no interest and it's a bit silly to have to take the bike computer out of the mount to stop it recording (and that won't even work with some wireless computers!).

Display of average speed doesn't show 0 after you've just reset it, but 'undefined' or '-' or something like that. 0/0 is not a number...

What I don't want to see is superflous functions. I have never used the following functions and they just cost me time to switch past them, or to work around them:

Functions for a 2nd bicycle, and in particular functions such as distance of bicycle 1+2 together. This is all useless for simple bicycle computers. A separate bicycle computer for each bicycle is much simpler and hardly more expensive.

fat burnt (this is just an estimate)

calories used (this is just an estimate)

(countdown) timer, stopwatch (if you want that, why not get a sportswatch for it?)

Total time (it doesn't interest me in the least how long it took me to ride the total distance ridden.

Being ably to individually setting certain settings to zero as e.g. Sigma allows: average speed (I suppose then the average will be determined from that point using distance/time since that point, while the values for distance/time are more, namely the ride time/distance since that point, this means you can determine the average of a part of the ride), maximum speed (possibly useful if you descend multiple mountains in one ride and want to know the maximum speed of those descents). If you want to know such things, you would be better off with a bicycle computer that has a log with which you can easily determine partial averages, maximum speeds on various sections etc.. In simply bicycle computers this is not useful and leads only to clutter in functionality. In the case of Sigma it means having to wait extra long to reset everything and in some other bicycle computers you need to switch to a certain mode to reset the ride.

I've not seen any bicycle computer that I really liked. For that happen it must have: a good screen with plenty of information on the screen, good buttons, no useless functions, reliable, background lighting, nice design, not too many buttons, not having to press too many times to show certain functions.

2011-10-1: I've had this view for a long time, and I wanted to share it: There has been very little real progress in bicycle computers since the early 1990s. More functions have been added, heart rate monitors are included in many of them, but compared to other digital equipment the features are not impressive for the price you pay. What's even worse is the abysmal mounting methods that are used, the abysmal user interface and the abysmal button quality. The use of applications on mobile phones as a bike computer and route planner could make bicycle computers obsolete within one's own country (this is generally dependant on internet use, which is expensive unless you have flat rate, and it's always expensive outside of one's own country). Bike navigation systems through GPS are the way forward but there's always a use for simple bike computers with just speed/time/distance/average speed/cadence. So what will happen is a division into 2 classes of bike computers: simple bike computers and navigation systems. Simple bike computers should cost very little but be fully reliable. The navigation systems can be 100 euro or more. As I said, I don't really like any bike computer I used, they are to be honest all pathetic. I don't see a future for bike computers of 80 euro or more that do not have navigation...

Design:

Cateye: Design through the years varies from ugly to nice. In the current line up (2010) this varies in the same way, so it's not a fashion phenomenon where an old device appears dated.

Sigma: These all look modern and good, the variations in nice/not so nice over the years is more a question of 'fashion' (so what you liked then, you may like less so today, not because the design itself is ugly but because it's from another time).

VDO: These cycle computers, now and in the past, almost all look ugly (exception: VDO Z1/Z2/Z3). What's up with the VDO designers?

Ciclosport: ?

Trelock: Round bicycle computers don't appeal to me. I don't see the point of that shape either...

Usefulness:

Cateye: These bike computers usually have the required functions and hardly pointless ones. Controls are straightforward.

Sigma: Feature creep (increasing number of functions since the early 1990s that you rarely need/use). The reset is always the same moronic method of pressing a button for about 3 seconds to reset the shown value, then keeping it pressed for another 3 seconds to reset the trip (all values except total distance). What do you need to reset a single value for? (such as distance, time, average speed) I never felt the need for that in all the years I used various bike computers. Then there are silly things such as not being able to switch the display to show 'total distance' while riding, at least on the ones I tried such as the BC1600 and BC 2006MHR. This is an interface inconsistency and this is (psychologically) bad as you will try the various buttons and then think 'I can't find total distance! Why?' until you realise at home reading the manual that this function is hidden while riding. This is not intuitive). I can go on about such things. In conclusion: Sigma bike computers have an incredibly badly designed way to control and select their functions.

VDO: ??

Quality:

This uses a magnet ring for both determining the speed and to charge an internal battery. I had to open it once a few years ago as it seemed stuck, but after that it still works perfectly. Never a new battery required even after 25 years...

Specifications:

Functions: Time, speed, ride distance, ride time, ride average speed, total distance.Battery: CR1620 of CR1616 (they both fit). A not very handy format (beacuse it's not very common).Price: You can't get one new any more, but at the time (1992) it was ca. fl. 80,- (€35, not counting inflation).

2 buttons. There's also a small button at the back (to be operated with the tip of a pen) for changing some infrequently changed settings. The start/stop button has no function other than as part of the reset of current values, when automatic start/stop has been selected.

Very simple and fast reset: Press the 2 large buttons at the same time.

The screen can be read perfectly during the day in all circumstances, it has no background lighting. Immediate update of values on screen.

The average speed can deviate up to 0,3 km/h from the value calculated with a calculator using the given distance and time. So the calculation accuracy is poor.

The maximum speed occasionally got to 80km/h and more, when carrying the bike up some stairs. I presume this happened from small movements back and forward of the front wheel, which gave otherwise impossibly short times bewteen 2 magnet pulses. However, I tried to replicate this effect manually and I never got such speeds, so I'm not sure if that's it. Perhaps just a glitch in the software of the bicycle computer which should filter out bad signals if the time bewteen 2 pulses (or supposed pulses) is too short. This can be done in particular when taking into account a cyclist can't accelerate very rapidly, so from 30 to say 80 km/h isn't possible in a very short time. This problem with spurious maximum speeds is common in current cheapo bicycle computers (for example those sold by Aldi).

Buttons: 2, work well.

Design: Good (this computer still looks nice today!)

Replacing the battery: Easy.

My old one didn't work properly any more after 15 years of service (1992 to 2007), but in 2010 I bought a second hand one again as shown in the above pictures, and it was a relief to use this computer after the awful Sigma's and others. The simple reset is fantastic although for long trips where you don't want to risk restting the computer inadvertently, a different type of reset might be useful in a bike computer.

Specifications:

Functions:Batteries: 2x CR2032Price: ca. €10, in 2008, so very cheap but mostly does what's needed.

I lost the bike computer on a ride, so no pictures...

Buttons: 2, work well.

The left button if to reset the trip data, stop the most important values which you can then examine these values by pressing the right hand button and they will stay the same while riding. So the values shown stay at those of the point when you pressed the left button, but the measurement continues. This is interesting but I never felt this was actually useful. The left button also actuates the background light.

The right button is used to switch between display of various functions, so to show another value, then get back to the original one, you need to press that button lots of times (ca. 8 times).

There's a problem with the maximum speed in that it shows peak values that were never reached. Contrary to the Cateye Mity 2, this happens a lot with this bicycle computer making this function useless.

Lots of functions, but also useless ones such as the Calorie calculation.

Specifications:

Functions:Batteries: 2x CR2032Price: ca. €70 to 100 (ca. 2007)

Tested since: 2007

Buttons: 4, work well.

Very slow/ungainly reset: You need to press the button top-left for ca. 3 seconds to reset the currently show value to 0, and then another ca. 3 seconds before all values are reset. I don't want to include the data of the ride from the path to my home where I can't cycle quickly, so that means a reset while cycling. But that's very cumbersome: It takes about 7 seconds to press that button while you cycle (and don't press any other buttons by accident during that procedure or you can start over). That's not cool...

Delay in updates on the screen: When accelerating I regularly saw the speed at 10 to 20 km/h when I was riding 30 km/h for a few seconds. The average speed is updated even more slowly, it can lag some 10 seconds (I noticed this during some rides where I got a ever decreasing average speed, while I had been going faster than the average for some time, which had become fairly low because I was taking it easy for a while).

After using the BC 1609 I was reminded about the following issue: When switching the background light on, the screen only says 'LIGHT ON' and for about 2-3 seconds you can't change anything as no button presses are registered, nor can you see anything but that text. It's such a moronic thing to do! When the light goes on, you see it go on! There is no need to state this on the screen and not being able to see speed, distance etc. for 2-3 seconds is just annoying. Perhaps others put the light on while standing still, but I usually do this after starting to ride, so just as with the extremely slow reset this annoys me.
Perhaps this is meant to be also an alert in case you accidentally switch on the light during the day, at which time it can be very hard to see that the light is on, but for this a small indicator on the LCD would be better, or if they really want to show that text the screen could be used better by only using the middle or bottom line with 'LIGHT ON' and still register keypresses and update the screen.

The screen is pretty big, easily read and has a good background lighting.

Heart rate monitor works very well

Conclusion: Lots of functions for a low price, but I still got rid of this bicycle computer, as I got tired of the very slow and cumbersome reset...

Specifications:

Functions:Battery: Early versions used the CR1620. This is uncommon and hard to find. A CR2032 would be much better. Update: I saw on Cateye's wesbite that later versions were listed with CR2032 and a reader confirmed this...Price: ca. €30 (ca. 2009)

Tested since: 2009

Only 1 button, that's actually on the bottom side of the bicycle computer, and is pressed by presseing the bicycle computer itself (on the bottom half). The advantage is that the screen is fairly large while the bicycle computer is small. But still, a standard button, for example on the side would have been better; see below.

Fairly fast/simple reset, for ca. 3 seconds press the bicycle computer on its bottom section (in any display but dst2/time)

The screen is very well readable during the day under all circumstances, and doesn't have background lighting. Immediate update of all values on screen.

When it was freezing, there was some water underneath the bike computer, which froze. I couldn't use the computer as the button is positioned underneath the bicycle computer (i.e. pressing the bicycle computer didn't do anything). Only when it started thawing (the computer was mounted on a bike that I leave outside) could I get the water out, and reset the bicycle computer again, and show other functions.

Disadvantage of that single button that's activated by moving the entire computer: If you have a handlebar bag, and take something out or put something in, the bicycle computer can be pressed up at the front, which is equal to pressing the computer down on the lower section: The button gets pressed. Another function is then shown or even worse, everything gets reset... That unwanted resetting happened so often that this computer is really useless if you have a handlebar bag that allows some movement (perhaps not a problem with bags that have a Klick-fix or similar mount).

There are 7 functions which you scan using that single 'button', so you must press 7 times before getting back to the original display (say you want to see what the average speed is, then go back to the display of the distance, that means pressing the button 7 times in total).

Button: Easy to press and feedback via click, but regularly doesn't register and you need to press it again.

Design: Good.

Replacing the battery: There are 4 tiny philips screws which I haven't been able to loosen except by cutting a groove in them, then using a regular flat screwdriver. Without having a good minitool to cut such grooves I couldn't have used it any more, so I'm going to reduce the valuation now to 2. Update: I'm not sure if any minature screws are used in the later version with the CR2032, I hope not...

I don't like the flextight bracket of the Strada, it is like putting a nut with badly cut threads onto a bolt with differently badly cut threads... At least it securely fixes the bike computer contrary to Sigma and O-synce's rubbish mounting syustems. Update: The later version of this bike computer according to a reader has a flextight bracket that works well. It also works well in the Commuter so it was probably a problem with just the early versions of this type of Cateye's bracket.

Specifications:

Functions:Battery: CR2032.Price: ca. €30 (ca. 2006)

Tested since: 2006

3 buttons, that are all rather stiff, sometimes a press doesn't register and you need to press the button again.

Which button does what isn't shown on the computer. 3 buttons wouldn't be needed without the needless complication of differentiating between 2 bikes. For fairly cheap bicycle computers, this is pointless. Just buy 2 of them, it costs hardly more than a single one + 2nd bike kit.

Slow reset, press the top left button for ca. 6 seconds (pressing the top left button first resets the currently shown value after after 3 seconds and the trip data gets reset if you keep it pressed for another 3 seconds).

The screen can be read perfectly during the day in all circumstances, it has no background lighting. Immediate update of values on screen. The bottom line of the screen is a pointless advertisement for Sigma itself which can even be irritating (by virtue of appearing and disappearing letters). Why wasn't that space used to show something useful?

The mount on the handlebar of the computer is Sigma's old and in my view very poor system of rubber bands and double sided sticky tape (what if you want to move the mount!?).

The mount for my computer had cracks after a few years and it didn't hold the computer properly any more.

Specifications:

1 button, the whole bike computer acts as a button similar to the Cateye Strada. This again means the computer is pretty small, smaller than the Strada. Nice.

Fairly fast/simple reset, for ca. 3 seconds press the bicycle computer on its bottom section (in any but time, and total distance).

The screen is very well readable during the day under all circumstances, and doesn't have background lighting. Immediate update of all values on screen.

There are 7 functions which you scan using that single 'button', so you must press 7 times before getting back to the original display (say you want to see what the average speed is, then go back to the display of the distance, that means pressing the button 7 times in total).

Button: Easy to press and feedback via click, but regularly doesn't register and you need to press it again.

The mount on the handlebar uses a very poor system of tie wraps and double sided sticky tape (what if you want to move the mount!?). Even worse than Sigma's system of rubber bands + double sided sticky tape.

Reliability: Poor. Most times when I start pressing the computer to see another function, it doesn't make proper contact any more and thus speed/cadence show 0. There is some movement in the bike computer on the mount, and in some positions it doesn't make good contact. This also happens on bad roads without touching the computer so speed/cadence go to 0 then. An unreliable bike computer is worthless, and an occasional hiccup it isn't, therefore the rating is 0.

Other stuff: The cadence and speed sensor both have 'speed sensor' printed on them. So I needed to check which one was which.

Display: Distance is only shown with 1 decimal place. Annoying to me as I like to use the bike computer to measure distances, and this one is useless for that. In any event I think 2 decimal places is the minimum. It just annoys me if the distance doesn't update for 10-20 seconds (this is due to psychology: as you ride, you want to see that with nearly immediate updates in the display).

Specifications:

Functions:Battery: CR2032.Price: ca. €30 (ca. 2011)

Tested since: 8 Dec. 2011

I really didn't want to test any more Sigma bicycle computers, but it seems there are no non-crappy low end bicycle computers. In any event, I needed a replacement for the awful O-synce mini save cad, and my Mity 2 was broken in a fall on an icy road, end of 2010.

4 buttons, that are all easy going and work quite well, but that chrome-like layer will probably wear off quickly.

Which button does what isn't shown on the computer. 4 buttons is a lot and far more than necessary.

Slow reset, press the top left button for ca. 6 seconds (pressing the top left button first resets the currently shown value after after 3 seconds and the trip data gets reset if you keep it pressed for another 3 seconds).

The screen can be read perfectly during the day in all circumstances, it has nice background lighting. Immediate update of values on screen.

When switching the background light on, the screen only says 'LIGHT ON' and for about 2-3 seconds you can't change anything as no button presses are registered nor see anything but that text. It reminded me that in the BC2006MHR this is the same. It's such a moronic thing to do! When the light goes on, you see it go on! There is no need to state this on the screen and not being able to see speed, distance etc. for 2-3 seconds is just annoying. Perhaps others put the light on while standing still, but I usually do this after starting to ride, so just as with the extremely slow reset this annoys me.
Perhaps this is meant to be also an alert in case you accidentally switch on the light during the day, at which time it can be very hard to see that the light is on, but for this a small indicator on the LCD would be better, or if they really want to show that text the screen could be used better by only using the middle or bottom line with 'LIGHT ON' and still register keypresses and update the screen.

Another issue with the background lighting is that it's hard to switch it on with gloves. You need to press the top left and bottom left switches at the same time to activate the background light, and the timing is too critical, and hard to get right with gloves. I usually have to try several times before it works...
The background lighting goes on for about 3 seconds but the 1609 gets into a background-mode (like most Sigmas) until you switch the light off (same combination of buttons) or when it gets into the sleep mode. In the background mode light goes on whenever you press a button, which do not do anything else at that time. So you need to press the button you want to press another time to activate the function of that button. This is ok with most functions, but it's very annoying when you want to reset the bike computer where it's of no use. So you first need to press a button to get the light on, then press the top left button (for 7 seconds), but then, it seems Sigma doesn't use their own products and then you get these types of inane problems.

The mount on the handlebar of the computer is Sigma's old and in my view very poor system of rubber bands and double sided sticky tape (what if you want to move the mount!?).

Design: Good.

Replacing the battery: Easy.

So, I said the chrome layer would wear off quickly, well, after just 9 days, I took the BC1609 off the bike, wanted to wipe off water and noticed some ripples on the side (see pictures above). Optical distortion from water droplets? Well, wiping the water off then made the chrome layer come off! It's still on the buttons, but elsewhere it's mostly gone. What an unbelievably stupid design by Sigma! I knew the chrome would come off, but I didn't expect it this quickly, Sigma should know this as well. Do they test their own products? Oh yes, and the bits of chrome keep sticking to the BC1609 in lots of places (see the picture above), which is really annoying.

Another thing is the fogging up of the screen from the inside. I left this computer on a bike that I leave outside for testing purposes so gets plenty of rain, well, it's not watertight enough....
Rating reduced from 4 to 3...

Specifications:

Functions:Battery: CR2032 x 2.Price: ca. €60 (2012)

Tested since: 21 May 2012

I had this on my list of bicycle computers I wanted to test for a long time. The recommended retail price of about €80,- was a bit high compared to e.g. the Sigma BC2006MHR, BC2009MHR, and others such as now the Polar CS100. But I've seen it sold for about €40-€60 and then it's an option for those who do not need an altitude meter, cadence, nor heartrate functions.

When I first got it I thought: 'It's big!', and, 'oh no, it's got chrome on the bottom of the sides :('

I didn't like the flextight bracket of the Strada, it was like putting a nut with badly cut threads onto a bolt with differently badly cut threads. I gave the Strada to my sister and the cable broke after not a long time. Not sure if the cable is weak or that she treated it badly, but I had to take it off the bike and getting the bracket off was a nuisance and I cut the thread off mostly as it was going too slowly. Here it's different, it works. But I still prefer a standard bolt as Cateye used in the 1990s.

2013-7-23: Forgot to note that the sensor is mounted with stupid tie-wraps. Thus the sensor often gets rotated or shifted when something like a front pannier touches it, or even when the bike falls due to wind. This sucks! Give us back the proper mounting methods with a bolt instead of this rubbish!

I like the screen, though it glares a bit in the sun, perhaps a curved surface as on the Sigma 1609 would be better...
It shows a lot at once, it's very well readable, and it shows what I want it to show: Time (as I never wear a watch), temperature, speed and another function you can select (time, distance, average speed, maximum speed, ETA). The whole bike computer acts as a switch, just as with the Strada. There are a few more buttons on the back, for resetting, light. The initial procedure to set date/circumference etc. is not comfortable due to the buttons being on the back and small. The light switch at the back is ok, still need to test it while riding, with gloves this will be impossible to activate I suspect. Reset is simple: Keep the computer pressed for 2 seconds. 5 button presses gets you to all functions: average speed, maximum speed, distance, ride time, ETA (estimated time of arrival). So a reasonable number of keypresses, a big plus. I think 5 presses to get back to the originally displayed function is the maximum to keep the interface comfortable; I felt 7 as in the Strada is too many. So for more functions you need another button. The Commuter has an extra button, but a very small one on the back...

2013-7-23: Values on screen are updated quickly, except for the average speed which is updated once every 5 seconds. That's too slow!

At the moment I'm still evaluating it, but this is the first bike computer since the Cateye Mity 2 that I like... Let's see if it stays that way :)

I tested to see if the lighting can be activated with gloves and that, suprisingly, works very well. Just keep the top right corner of the bicycle computer between your thumb and your index finger and squeeze... De background lighting is (just) good enough for the top 2 lines, but the time and temperature are quite small and it takes some effort to read using the background lighting. Perhaps that would be easier with stronger background lighting.

Keeping the light button pressed for about 4 seconds makes the bike computer go into night mode, so that each keypress lights up the display. I think the way Sigma does it makes more sense: Light on means night mode, which then goes off only when the bike computer goes into sleep from no-activity for a long time, or when you press the light button again.

Distance in km is shown in 2 decimal places. This is good though in metres (3 decimal places) would be nicer.

Total distance (and total time) is only shown using the button on the back. I don't mind it's not quickly accessible (esp. total time doesn't interest me in the least) but the small rear button is a nuisance, also for setting up the computer, so the Commuter should have had a reasonably sized button at the rear and not a miniscule button on the bottom. Or it should have had 2 buttons on the bottom, both activated by pushing on the bike computer, one by pushing on the bottom and the other by pushing on the top (similar to some bike computers by Polar with which you press on the left- or right hand side to activate buttons on the bottom left/right.

2013-7-23: Finally an update on my experiencs with the ETA function: It works, but the ETA time is not very useful. Let's face it, if you are late and need to catch a train, or be at an appointment, then the ETA function is not going to help. There's no way you can make up any good time by cycling faster on relatively short distances, and on long distances wind is such a big factor, that riding faster than normal is only an option if you have a tailwind. So what's the point of the ETA function? It's a gimmick and one that wastes your time on a simple bike computer. Total distance was the function that should have been directly accesssible in its place. More complex functions are for use with more complex systems, esp. navigation systems (dedicated or on a phone/tablet).

Expensive bicycle computers never seemed useful to me and too limited, also in how you must wade through all the functions with a few buttons. With the rise of good navigation for smart phones I also don't see the use of bicycle navigation computers. They are too limited and not as versatile as a mobile phone. Or even tablet, though tablets are a bit big and mounting on the bike is an issue. More on this to come.

So, what I have felt for years and what I wrote in 2011 as being the future of bicycle computers (see above the section dated 2011-10-1), I feel even stronger now (2012). It seems to me that the future is as I thought: Only simple bike computers (which must be cheap), or navigation systems. But dedicated bike navigation is becoming obsolete by the time they are finally getting to a point where they are good enough and reasonably cheap, by way of mobile phones. The only issue is phones/tablets not being waterproof which I think will change in future models, or a mount with cover should be used, possibly with bluetooth button device outside it. 2014-5-2: I saw that O-synce produced something along those lines of what I suggested in 2012, to use (control) a phone with bluetooth connection, apparantly introduced in 2013. It also sends back data to this device with LCD screen to save the battery on the phone (the screen is the biggest energy hog on phones).

I've got a Samsung Tab2 10 and a Tab2 7 3G. I used the Tab2 10 on a trip to Ukraine which was very useful as entertainment in the hotel (movies) and for web browsing, booking hotel rooms etc. Almost all hotels and restaurants in Ukraine have WiFi, even low budget hotels, cool :) It's very useful to book hotels on the way, get airplane tickets etc. For navigation even within the city an offline navigation is really needed due to cost of mobile network use. So I've been experimenting a bit with navigation systems. I tried Copilot live and this didn't appeal to me, unintuitive and ugly interface on my Tab2 10. It should look better on smaller screens. Another program I tried recently is Osmand and it's quite useful, so much so that it seems to me any specialised bike navigation system is already superflous. Just get an Android phone and install it with some maps. A recent phone with a lot of internal storage (or ability to add micro sd card) will give a system that's more versatile than bike navigation systems.
What can other navigation systems offer that's really worth getting a dedicated bike navigation for?

For the Netherlands there's an interesting program called 'Bikenode' which shows bike nodes, i.e. points which show where to go which allow you to make your own routes. Just select your points and follow the directions to the points you want.
This system came originally from Belgium and in the south of NL this system was introduced before it was introduced in western NL, where I live.

I even used this system simply to get to a destination, instead of to make a bike trip just for fun, in 2006. I made a trip of about 120 km one day and about halfway, when I saw this system on a summary point (near Gorinchem), instead of using a map and selecting roads and choosing which cities/villages to go through, I wrote down all the points to get to close to my destination and I didn't need to do much looking on the map to check for the right roads etc. However, now (this was in 2012) with navigation systems on mobile phones these bike nodes may become obsolete quite soon. What do you think?

A reader gave an answer to my question, of why you would want to buy a specific bike navigation system. Well, they are better than a mobile phone (or tablet), for the following reasons, which are valid though I have some comments about some of them:

Water proof

Readable in sunlight [ WHS: I consider the Galaxy Y phone even in very bright sunlight to be good enough when setting brightness at maximum. My Tab2-7 is more problematic in this case... ]

Battery lifetime of > 20 h [ WHS: This is not an issue if you use hubdynamo with a USB power gadget to charge the phone while riding ]

Much better GPS receiver [ WHS: I can't say much about this ]

This reader's view is that: his Garmin eTrex Vista HCx, although it has a poor screen resolution and horrible UI, it works better as a GPS device than his iphone, and the price is reasonable by not using the Garmin maps but OSM (open street maps) instead.

But I still have doubts about navigation systems. I think they are doomed as mobile phones will get waterproof (it's absolutely ridiculous that they are not waterproof, since you want to able to use them anywhere and any time!) and readability in sunlight depends a lot on the type of screen used. Standard LCD or paperwhite screens as in ebook readers are indeed much better than the screens used in high end mobile phones at the moment. The power consumption of the LCD screens of navigation sysems is a large factor in the battery life, which is absolutely dreadful in many high end phones, but as I said, when using a USB charger via dynamohub this is barely an issue.

I've used a Galaxy S2 and Galaxy Y for bike navigation quite a bit since August 2013, and the Galaxy Y is good because of lower power consumption, otherwise the S2 is superior in speed, stability (osmand crashes from time to time on the Y, not enough memory I suppose), voice directions don't work on the Galaxy Y, and I have to put osmand on the internal phone memory otherwise from time to time it just disappears from the applications on the phone... Here's a picture:

2015-7: Updates on navigation: Phones

The waterproof phones that are available make some of the issues above irrelevant. E.g. the Sony Z series, the Samsung S5, S5 mini. Readability in daylight is good enough in most cases, I wouldn't want to use a low resolution navigation system even if it is better readable. I can put my hand over the screen if really needed. I've been using a Sony Xperia Z that I got from a family member and compared it to the Samsung S2, Y and others. The screen is horrible for viewing pictures (cool colour, gives the same loss of depth perception in pictures as I've shown on my bike lighting page that cool light gives when illuminating the garden), and the screen is horribly bad when looking at it from an angle, but in sunlight for navigation it's much better than the S2, the screen is very high resolution, for navigation it's great. GPS has also improved, I think from Glonass satellites, the Z shows more of them than the S2 and Y. Battery is a problem, GPS and screen usage sucks the batteries dry quickly. Switching the screen off is most important, switch it on only when really needed, or use audio for guidance.

You can use Oruxmaps and Locus also with vector openstreet maps. You can use the program "Map downloader" from the application store, or go with your mobile device to the website http://openandromaps.org/, go to download, click on + to select which you want to load of the versions (for Locus or Oruxmaps or other programs) and it will download within the program. With Map downloader, selecting to install on both didn't work, it was only installed on 1 of them. Btw., Map downloader used different maps than from openandromaps.org, when I tried it.

Because Oruxmaps and Locus use the same format for the maps, I put the maps into a shared directory 'openstreetmap' on my SD card so both programs can use the same map files.

2015-7: Comparison of Osmand, Oruxmaps, Locus

This is quite preliminary, and I will add screenshots and more experiences, but already here are some issues and notes on improvements of newer vs. older versions of Osmand:

Osmand's interface has improved, but you might need to edit your favourites.gpx to import properly (needs an extra field for each favourite).

Oruxmaps: Very slow unless you're looking e.g. within a city. With the map set to view several cities to see where to go to, it can take 30 seconds to update the map. Osmand does it in at most 3-4 on the Z with the Dutch Osmand 1.4 GB map. Locus is also much faster, slightly slower than Osmand. Navigation bars are near the top. Pressing them with your fingers, which are normally near the bottom in case of your free hand, means more movement and then your hand obstructs the view of the bottom section of the map. Osmand and Locus do it much better.

Locus: I need to try out this more, but an issue here is for example no offline navigation calculation. Injecting a GPX route from a separate program is how it's done, but this is not nice when you decide while riding, that you want to change the route...

The old method with which bicycle computers were fastened (plastic mount with a bolt and rubber inserts, see for example the Cateye Mity 2) worked perfectly. Why do we have these crap mounting methods with tie wraps and rubber bands? For sensor mounting a rubber band works reasonably well, but not for bicycle computers themselves. I didn't like Cateye's flextight bracket in the Strada, but in the Commuter it's better due to better threads, and this is a reasonable alternative to the old method.

As with bicycle lighting I often wonder whether manufacturers do any real testing! Surely the people at Sigma know that chrome (it's not really chrome, but you know what I mean) layers are gone quickly!? And then why make products with it? Surely they must feel the wish/need to move a bike computer? E.g. for viewing angle, or when using a new handlebar, or when putting something else on the handlebar for which the bike computer must be moved. What then with that double sided sticky tape? (You can get the sticky tape loose with methylic spirit, or better yet lighter fuel which is similar to the Dutch 'wasbenzine'. In German: Wasbenzin, French: Essence de nettoyer. 'Wasbenzine' does not seem to be used much or known in UK/USA; 'Wasbenzine' is a great degreaser and loosens sticky tape etc. without affecting the materials that methylic spirit/alcohol eats at , but it takes work to keep the sticky tape intact) Also, in lots of rain the glue layer can lose its stickiness which happened to the BC1609 once, it just revolved around the handlebar when I wanted to press a button.

I have nothing in mind... What is available at the moment is either too expensive or has well known flaws that I don't need to test for (e.g. Sigma's crappy mounting system). Expensive bicycle computers (ca. ≥ €100) don't appeal to me.

Anything from Sigma: I've used a number of Sigma bike computers and liked none of them. I have no intention of trying any Sigma bike computer ever again unless they get rid of their moronic reset procedure and their crappy bike mount with double sided sticky tape + rubber band...

Anything from O-synce: The O-synce bike computer Macro X looks interesting with a good interface and, as with various DIY and factory made bike lamps that have appeared a few years ago, controls on the handlebar. However, the mounting method on the Mini-save cad is very bad, even worse than Sigma, and it is not at all reliable, which is why I'm not going to test/use any more O-synce stuff unless they make big changes to improve this.